For Better Or Worse
by Inu-rose
Summary: A new girl who is over-weight is coming to Yusuke's school. At first, he makes fun of her, but then he takes a look at her side of the story. NOT a Marysue! R&R, please.
1. Meeting Lizzi

Inurose: Hey guys. This isa fic I wrote for the new girl at my school.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho.

Inurose: Before we begin, I'm telling you right now: Lizzi is a real person - not a Marysue! So don't get any perverted or rude ideas!

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Laughing.

That was what Elizabeth remembered at her first day at a new school.

Elizabeth, or Lizzi, as she liked to be called, was a foster child. Her parents had died in a fire a few years ago, and she now lived with a traveling photographer named Tom. Tom had brown hair and brown eyes while Lizzi had black hair and blue eyes.

Now, why would kids make fun of her, you ask?

Well, Lizzi was over-weight. Now, she wasn't _ridiculously_ over-weight, but she was chubbier then most people. Human nature is very cruel sometimes. We see something different and we either find it frightening or funny. But, in cases like Lizzi's, it's usually funny.

I know you've heard that saying. "Sticks and stones may break your bones, but names can never hurt you." Well, that saying is one hundred percent false.

Words are very painful - even more painful then sticks or stones at times!

Now, most readers right now would probably stop reading this story and go on to the next one where a pretty girl gets paired up with their favorite bishi, but I'm asking you to please stay because this story has a valuble lesson in it.

It was a cold winter's day in Japan for fourteen year-old Lizzi.

Tom had been wanting to come to Japan for the longest time, so she had been learning Japanese and studying up on it's culture. Lizzi was bright, despite what other kids thought of her.

She grinned half-heartedly thinking about what Tom had told her the other morning. "I'm sure you get your brains from me. I'm a pure genius." Of course, he said this while he was reading a bookcalled 'Japanese for dummies.'

She heard soft laughing from behind herand she turned her head slightly.

There were a few boys standing behind her, laughing and mumbling some things under their breath.

She could bearly make out 'baka' and 'inu.'

Scowling at the boys, she smoothed out her skirt and continued walking.

As she did so, the laughing grew louder.

She whirled around. "Kusos!" she cursed at them.

Now, kuso means shit, so to make it plural, she tried adding an 's', but apparently the boys found this very amusing.

They laughed harder, holding their stomaches.

She felt her face grow warm and she continued walking on. 'Smooth move, Lizzi.' she scolded herself. 'You can't do anything right, can you?'

When Lizzi approached the school, she saw a few more boys standing outside the gate. There was one boy that had slicked back black hair, one boy with curly ginger colored hair, one boy with long red hair and emerald eyes, and one boy with black hair that seemed to defy gravity and red eyes.

Knowing it was rude to stare, Lizzi focused her gaze on the ground and continued walking.

She heard some more laughing and she felt her cheeks grow warm again.

"Check out the elephant over there!" she heard someone hiss.

"Yeah. It probably escaped the zoo yesterday!"

She walked at a faster pace. 'Please leave me alone.' she begged in her mind.

"BAKA!"

Lizzi whirled around to see a brunette with brown eyes whacking one of the boys over the head with her book-bag. "Yusuke, that's not nice!" she shouted.

The boy with slicked black hair rubbed his head. "Oi! Keiko, what was that for?"

Keiko glared at him. "That was extremely rude! Don't do that again! Baka!" she slapped him for good measure. Keiko looked over at the ginger-haired boy. "You either, Kuwabara! I'm ashamed of you!"

Lizzi winced. "No amount of therapy will ever make this moment okay..." she mumbled to herself in English.

Yusuke glared back at Keiko. "Hey, she's speaking English! She doesn't even know whatwe said!"

'Now's my chance! Maybe I can stick up for myself!' Lizzi thought.

She walked over to the boys. "Actually," she said softly in Japanese, "I know both Japanese and English, so I could understand you perfectly." she gave him the fakest smile she could muster, and walked away.

'And I know Latin, and French, and Spanish, and Italian...' she went on listing the languages she knew. It could sometimes be handy traveling with Tom. 'And Greek, and German, and-"

"Hey!" she recognized the brunette's voice. "Hey wait up!"

Lizzi turned her head. "What?"

Keiko grinned at her. "My name is Keiko. What's yours?" she asked, holding out her hand.

Lizzi ignored the requested handshake. "My name is Lizzi." she stammered.

The bell rang and Keiko pulled her hand back. "Well, we need to get to class. Would you like me to help?"

"No thank you." Lizzi murmured, walking into the school building by herself.

Keiko blinked, but soon turned to Yusuke. "C'mon Yusuke! Kuwabara! We're going to be late!"

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Inurose: Ok, this was chapter one. Please review!


	2. Welcome To Our School

Inurose: Hey again everyone. Here is chapter two!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho.

Inurose: On with the fic!

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Lizzi sat down nervously in her math class. It was just like the school in New York.

Everyone was staring at her.

'Please stop looking at me,' she begged in her mind, staring at an iota of dirt on her desk. 'C'mon, turn your head and stare somewhere else!'

A kid walked over to her desk – probably the popular kid.

She had waist long brown hair with sparkling green eyes. Lizzi stared at her. The girl's ribs were practically showing! Not to mention she had curves in all of the "right" places. 'What does she do, starve herself?' Lizzi thought, turning her gaze back to the oh-so-interesting speck on her desk.

The girl smiled at Lizzi – a smile that was dripping with fake kindness.

"Hello." She said. Her voice was like honey – smooth and way too sweet. "You must be the new student here."

Lizzi nodded her head slowly. 'Okay, 'Miss Perfect'. You know I'm new meat. Leave me alone now… please?'

However, the girl didn't leave her alone. She sat down in the desk next to poor Lizzi's. "My name is Yume." She said, tossing back her long hair. "What's yours?"

Lizzi swallowed the lump that was forming in the back of her throat from pure terror. "M-my name is Lizzi."

"Lizzi? Hmm… that doesn't sound Japanese."

"That's because I'm not Japanese." Lizzi murmured. "I moved here with my…fos-…" she didn't exactly want Yume's pity (as if she would get it anyway) so she lied. "With my _father_, Tom. He's a photographer."

Yume stared at her. "A photographer…? Interesting…" She smiled, and something in that smile made Lizzi question what horrible things that Yume was going to do to her.

"Alright class, take your seats."

Lizzi sighed. 'Saved by the teacher.'

The teacher, Mrs. Yamagata, stepped before the class. Her short red hair was pulled back into a pony tail and her brown eyes glanced around the room. "Alright everyone. We have a new student. She's come all the way from New York to live with us! Lizzi White."

Lizzi murmured softly, "It's pronounced Whi-yate."

"Oh, sorry dear." She smiled at her. "I've never been good with pronouncing names."

Lizzi tried to grin back at her, but fear was tugging at the back of her brain. She glanced over at Yume who was chatting with her friends.

"Alright, so we were up to Absolute Value, correct?"

The teacher went up to the board. "What is the Absolute Value of negative two times three?"

Lizzi slowly raised her hand when no one answered.

"Yes, Lizzi?"

"Positive six?" she tried.

Mrs. Yamagata smiled. "Very good!"

When Lizzi put her hand down, she could practically feel Yume's green eyes staring at her back. 'Please go away…'

After a quick lesson on Absolute Value, the homework was passed out and an awkward silence filled the room.

Lizzi finished the homework quickly – she was good at math, although she hated it.

"Psst… new kid!" Lizzi turned her head at the hissed voice.

Yume was smirking at her. "Sit with us at lunch today."

Lizzi felt as if a snake had just bitten her and crawled down her back. "N-no thank-" the bell cut her off.

As Lizzi left the room, she heard Mrs. Yamagata's voice. "Welcome to our school, Lizzi."

Lizzi gulped. 'Yeah… I feel right at home…'

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Inurose: Well that was chapter two. Before I leave, here are some quick replies to my reviewers:

**Mkao:** Glad you liked it! ::hands you a cookie::

**Linwe Jaganshi:** Thank you! ::hands you a cookie::

**AnimeShadow:** Nice that you think so! ::gives you cookie::

Well, until next time! Ja!


	3. Hiding in bathrooms crying in hospitals

Inu-rose: Thanks for your reviews everyone! I didn't expect this many! O.O"

Anyway, just to make one thing clear: Lizzi is seriously NOT a Marysue! Heck, she's not even paired with an origanal characterin this fic.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho.

Inu-rose: On with the story!

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When lunch time rolled around, Lizzi was petrified.

She had spent most of the day thinking out in her head why Yume was asking her to sit with her and her friends.

Not many good thoughts entered her mind, I'll tell you what.

Lizzi mentally shuddered and scurried to her locker. After opening it, she grabbed her afternoon books, her lunch money and quickly made her way into the cafeteria.

After buying her lunch, she looked around the lunch room. Yume was nowhere in sight. That was a good sign.

She glanced around and felt her stomach lurch. Spoke too soon! Yume and three other girls were striding into the room now!

What didn't surprise Lizzi is thatYume's 'posse' were like clones of her, only with different eye colors.

They all had long brown hair in the same hair style, but one girl had brown eyes, one girl had blue eyes, and the last one had hazel eyes.

Becoming more and more self-conscious of herself, Lizzi glanced around again for an exit. An idea came to her and she went over to the lunch monitor.

"Can I use the lavatory?" she squeaked.

The lunch monitor nodded and wrote out a pass. "What's your name, kid?"

"Lizzi."

The monitor handed her the pass and Lizzi rushed to the bathroom. 'Thank God I've seen the movie _Mean_ _Girls_.'

She found an empty stall that wasn't too dirty and sat on top of the toilet seat.

She then heard a soft knock on the stall. "Lizzi?" it was Keiko's voice.

"K-Keiko?"

"Yeah, it's me. Lizzi, _what_ are you doing in there?" Obviously Keiko realized that Lizzi really wasn't using the toilet.

Lizzi unlocked the stall door just a crack. "Hiding."

Keiko blinked. "From what?"

"Yume and her gang. Wait, how did you know I came in here anyway?"

Keiko giggled. "I saw you racing to the bathroom from the lunchroom. I thought that maybe the cafeteria food didn't agree with your system or something." (Hehehe....)

Lizzi couldn't help but grin at Keiko's statement.

Keiko smiled right back at her. "C'mon. Why don't you eat lunch with me and my friends?"

The grinning girl quickly felt self-conscious all over again. "Uh… n-no thanks. I'll eat in here…"

Keiko frowned. "Aww… c'mon, Lizzi. Most of the people in this school are so nice."

'Yeah to you. You don't look like a freaking pig.' Lizzi thought sadly in her mind. "Nah… thanks anyway, Keiko."

Keiko blinked, but then she smiled half-heartedly. "You're welcome."

With that, Keiko left the black-haired girl alone to eat her food.

---------- 9th period --------------

Lizzi grimaced.

Social Studies… her worst subject yet.

She _hated_ social studies! She always tried studying, yet 70's were always stamped on the top of her test in thick, red ink.

Sinking down low in her seat, she tried thinking about what her parents would say whenever she came home with a low test score.

--- Flashback ---

"_Aww… Lizzi! Another one?" her father groaned when Lizzi showed him the 73 she got on her test._

_Her mother nudged her in the arm reassuringly with a wink. "We'll have to get those social studies grades up, huh?"_

"_Yeah." Lizzi said with a smile. Her father signed the test and she kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks, daddy!"_

"_You're welcome, Lizzi."_

--- End Of Flashback ---

Lizzi grinned remembering the expression on her father's face.

"A-hem!"

The cough from the social studies teacher caused her to rouse from her daydream.

"Anyway, I would like you all to study for the next test on Monday."

'Wow, have I really been daydreaming that long?' Lizzi thought, looking at the clock.

Apparently she had been! The bell was going to ring in 3… 2…

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!!!

…1.

She gathered her books up in her arms and made her way towards the door.

When she stepped into the cold air of outside, she shivered and looked around for Tom's car.

She sat on the curb after standing for at least 20 minutes and frowned. Where _was_ he?

The principal of the school came over to her. "Lizzi White?" he asked.

Lizzi nodded. "Yes…?"

"We got a phone call from the hospital…"

-------- At The Hospital ----------

Tom looked terrible. An I.V. tube was going down his arm and a cast was around his neck. Cuts were all over his face - not to mention a few bruises.

"He will live, Lizzi. But he will be paralyzed." That's what the doctor had said.

Lizzi wiped her eyes and drew in a quivering breath.

Tom had been walking around town, taking photographs of random things, trying to find some sort of inspiration. Then it happened.

He was crossing the street, when he tripped. Over what, who knows, but just his luck that a car was coming up fast with no sign of slowing down.

Tom stood up and tried to dodge the vehicle. He was hit, but luckily he had moved in the right angle so he wouldn't be killed on impact.

So, here he was.

Lizzi grabbed his hand. "C'mon Tom… c'mon wake up…"

Tom seemed to hear her; his eyes shut tighter and then relaxed. His hand grasped Lizzi's gently. "I'm up, I'm up…" he whispered hoarsely.

Lizzi felt a few tears roll down her cheeks, but she wiped them away. "Good."

An awkward silence passed, aside from Lizzi's sniffling and mangled sobs that is. She then decided to break the stillness. "So much for being a genius, huh Tom?"

Tom laughed weakly, squeezing her hand. "Keep that sense of humor, kiddo."

Lizzi laughed herself and stared out the window. 'Between this and school, it seems like God is out to get me or something…'

--- A Few Days Later ---

Lizzi calmly pushed Tom out of the hospital in his new wheel-chair. He was back to himself for the most part - sweet and a jokester, but it was strange to him and Lizzi both.

Lizzi never talked about it in school when the teachers sent her to counselors. 'Why can't everyone just leave me alone?' she thought angrily.

"Lizzi?" she gazed down at Tom and smiled.

"Yeah?"

Tom grinned back at her. "Thanks a lot kiddo."

Lizzi smiled again. "You're welcome."

---- At Lizzi's School ----

Lizzi sat in her math chair, sighing to herself. Another day of being picked on…

And it was going to continue. With Tom's being paralyzed, Lizzi and her guardian were going to live in Japan permanently.

Lizzi got sick thinking about it. She was sure that Yume was going to be thrilled having the "fat kid" staying instead of leaving in a few weeks.

It was also going to be strange. Lizzi wasn't used to living in one place - particularly those where people picked on her. It was a big change. 'A change,' thought Lizzi, 'That I'll never get used to…'

'Why me?' Lizzi thought as Yume walked over to her.

Yume smiled that 'million dollar' smile. "Oh, Lizzi. I heard about your dad. It's horrible. It really is. But look on the bright side!" she grinned brighter. "You get to stay here with me and all of your friends."

Lizzi gulped. "Yeah… great…"

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Inu-rose: Well, that was chapter three. And no, I didn't just make Tom paralyzed for the Hell of it. I made him paralyzed so they would be stuck in Japan. (I shouldn't really be saying 'stuck,' but you know what I mean.) Anyway, thank you for the reviews! Mind doing it again? Please?


	4. Skipping

Inu-rose: Hello everyone. Sorry it took so long for an update.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho.

Inu-rose: Okay, I need to make another thing clear again...

**Lizzi is NOT paired with anyone in this fiction. If you thinkshe should be, feel free to tell me and I'll change it for you.**

Ok? Hehehe... I find the bold print works more effectivly. -grins- Oh, and to answer a reviewer's question: No, Tom didn't really get paralyzed. Tom is a made up character, but Lizzi is a real person who goes to my school. (I don't know what her actual foster dad looks like... hehehe...)

Anyway, on with the fic!

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After math was over it was on to Spanish class. (Do they take Spanish in Japan? o.o)

Lizzi didn't really see the point in taking Spanish since she already knew the language. She grumbled a few incoherent things under her breath and trudged to Dona Silvia's class. (Dona's "n" should have a thingy over it, but my computer doesn't work that way.)

"Hola clase!" Dona chirped. /Hello class./

"Hola, Dona Silvia..." the class chorused, bored. /Hello Mrs. Silvia./

"?Mi clase esta?" (Arg... there should be accent marks there and that question markinthe front should beupside-down! Please ignore it best you can... please?) /My class is.../

"Precente..." /Here./

"Pogan sedi pie." (No idea how you spell that...) /Get to your feet./

So the class stood up.

"Yo estoy precente, tu estas precente, el y ellas precente, nosotros precente!" Dona sang, dancing around the room. /I'm here, you're here, he's here, she's here, we are all here/

Everyone else seemed dead to the world - even Yume!

Soon their little dance was over, and they sat down, annoyed at best.

"Okay, clase. Today we are learning about adjectives! O, adjectivos!Will..." Dona glanced about the room. "Lizzi and Yume come here, please? Ahora," /Ahora: Now/

So, Lizzi and Yume walked to the front of the room. "Okay, Lizzi is gordo." Lizzi felt her cheeks burn with humiliation. Gordo meant _fat_! How _dare_ a teacher say that to her!

"Yume though, is bonita." /Bonita: Pretty and or beautiful./

Yume smiled proudly, although she probably didn't even know what that meant.

Lizzi felt tears prick her eyes and she sniffed, trying to keep them back. 'Don't cry!' she commanded herself. 'Don't! Don't! Don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't!'

Alas, her inward commanding failed and a few tears rolled down her cheeks.

She raced from the class room, ignoring the teacher's shouts of 'what are you doing?'

She ran to the bathroom and locked herself in a stall. She wiped her eyes and sniffled, sobbing softly. Tom would've told off that teacher straight forward, but Lizzi didn't want to worry him.

She wiped her eyes again, feeling pity for herself. 'First my parents die, then I go to the orphanage, and... and...' a few tears rolled down her cheeks. 'I have this school that I need to go to. And Tom is hurt.' she began crying lightly. (Sobbing and crying ARE different!) 'Why does God hate me?'

She sniffled and wiped her eyes once more. 'I hate my life. Hmm... suicide seems pretty tempting right now... hm, you're supposed to cut your wrists vertically, right? No wait- stop that!' she commanded herself. 'Suicide is bad. Bad. Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad!'

She opened the stall door, stepped out and walked over to the mirror. She sighed. Her blue eyes were watery and red, her face was flushed, her nose was a vibrent pink. She shook her head. "I'm a mess." she murmured, splashing some cold water onto her face.

Lizzi pushed back her black hair and tied it up in a ponytail. "There." she mumbled. "Now it's out of my eyes."

Her eyes were one of the things Lizzi liked about herself. Right now they were red and puffy, but on a normal day her eyes were a dazzeling, dark blue that made Yume's green eyes seem dull and lifeless. (Haha...)

She sighed and tried to smile at herself. But she still saw the ugly girl that everyone made fun of. Not the sweet, intelligent girl that was happy all of the time, despite what others thought.

Now she just saw the ugly duckling - and to her, it seemed she could never be a swan.

Lizzi quietly exited the bathroom and cringed. She didn't want to go back to Spanish class. 'Skiping is bad,' she sighed, 'but I don't care.'

She turned down a few hallways looking for an empty classroom she could hide in. She spotted the music room and smiled softly to herself. 'Here we go.'

She glanced around quickly, and seeing no teachers she took a deep breath. She walked, okay, _ran_ into the room and shut the door behind her.

Lizzi sat herself down in a chair and sighed. 'I hope no one finds me.' she thought, glancing about, nervously.

The doorknob of the music room rattled and Lizzi froze in her spot. 'Ah, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap...'

The door opened to reveal none other then Keiko.

Lizzi sighed of relief and sunk into her seat. "Oh, it's just you."

Keiko, looking confused, walked over to her. "Lizzi, WHAT are you doing? There's no class in here. What's going on?"

'Dammit, she asks too many questions.' Lizzi thought. "I... err... my Spanish teacher..." she fell silent, feeling awkward about the whole situation.

Keiko shook her head. "I'm gonna hafta take you to guidance. If you won't tell ME what's wrong, maybe you'll tell the counselors."

Lizzi paled and jumped up out of her seat. "No!" she yelped.

Keiko blinked. "What? Why not?"

Lizzi clenched her fists. "I don't want to see them. They're no help." Her knuckles turned white and her nails left indents in her palm. "They only make it worse."

Keiko looked surprised. "But... but, Lizzi-"

Lizzi ignored her and walked out the door.

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Inurose: Well? Please review.


	5. Suicide?

Inu-rose: Hello everyone.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho.

Inu-rose: On with the fic...

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

Lizzi stormed out of the classroom, unaware of what she was doing or where she was going.

Anger was building inside of her. She hated her classmate's words. Why were they cruel? Why did they pick on her?

Sure, she was fat, and if they knew she was ashamed of it, why rub it in?

She tried losing weight. She did. She even had gotten so desperate that she had tried starving herself. It didn't go too well. She remembered that…

-Flashback-

Tom just finished hanging up the telephone when Lizzi walked in the house. "Lizzi?"

Lizzi froze in her tracks. "Yes, Tom?"

"That was the nurse." Tom said, stepping out of the kitchen where the phone resided. Lizzi flinched – his face was scrunched up in a serious, sad position.

"She says that you nearly fainted during gym class and when she looked you over she saw nothing was physically wrong with you. But then she mentioned to me that you said you didn't eat lunch."

Uh-oh. Lizzi knew what was coming next.

"Lizzi, I've noticed that for the past few weeks now you haven't been eating much. And you've been vomiting often…"

Lizzi felt her cheeks burn. She was eating to humor Tom occasionally, but then she would throw it up.

"Elizabeth, what is going on?"

She looked up, startled. Tom rarely called her Elizabeth. She then realized, horrified, that Tom was crying. He was crying…

"Why are you torturing yourself, Lizzi?" he choked. "Why are you hurting yourself?"

Lizzi remained silent.

"Well?" Tom hissed.

Lizzi couldn't help it. She went over and hugged her adopted father. "Tom, I'm sorry. I just…" she was crying now herself. "I just hate it when they pick on me. I hate it… why do they laugh at me? Why is it me that needs to be insulted?"

Tom drew in a quivering breath. "Liz, kids are mean. They probably are growing up with rude parents…" he stopped his sentence.

Lizzi stared at the floor. "At least they have parents." She mumbled. And with that, she stormed off to her room and locked the door shut.

-End of Flashback-

Lizzi had meant everything she said. She hated their torture of words.

She wanted to hurt someone... or something...

'No!' she thought, shaking her head. 'I won't. Tom is hurt because someone hurt him by driving stupidly. I won't hurt someone because I'm angry.' but the want to hurt someone grew stronger in the back of her head.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

When Lizzi got home, Tom was waiting for her with a smile. "Hello, Lizzi." he said, sweetly.

She smiled. She couldn't help it - Tom was so kind to her!

"Did you have a nice day?" Tom asked.

Lizzi froze. "Y... yes, sir." she murmured. She hated lying to Tom, but she had no choice.

He smiled. "I'm glad, Lizzi."

"Would you like me to wheel you to bed, Tom?" Lizzi offered. "You look tired."

Tom shook his head. "No thank you, Lizzi."

She smiled softly and went into the kitchen. She froze. There on the counter was a small, but sharp kitchen knife… gleaming in the light…

She glanced over her shoulder. Tom wasn't looking.

"…" Lizzi quickly grabbed the knife and gently put it in her pocket.

Tom wheeled himself into the kitchen, grinning at her. "Hungry, Lizzi?"

"No." Lizzi said quietly.

"Hey," Tom said puzzled. "What happened to the kitchen knife? Liz, have you seen it?"

Lizzi felt guilt creep into her mind. "No, I haven't."

"Hmm…" Tom rubbed his chin, perplexed. "I thought I left it out here," He wheeled himself out of the kitchen.

Lizzi then quietly pulled the knife out of her pocket and placed it in a drawer.

She couldn't do it. She _wouldn't_.

… Would she?

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Inu-rose: Well, that was the fifth chapter. Don't worry – that gang will come into play next chapter, I promise! Please read and review.


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